Stewards in Pennsylvania have suspended the license of owner/trainer Juan Carlos Vazquez through Jan. 26, 2025 after the death of 5-year-old mare Shining Colors.
According to a ruling published July 7, Vazquez shipped Shining Colors from Belmont Park to Parx on Jan. 6 of this year. On Jan. 9, Shining Colors was euthanized with a severe case of laminitis. Stewards held a hearing into the matter on June 23.
“The evidence presented by veterinarian witnesses and the necropsy report clearly revealed that the horse Shining Colors was suffering from this severe chronic condition and should never have been shipped to Parx racing by owner/trainer Juan C. Vazquez,” the ruling read.
According to Equibase, Shining Colors made her last start on Oct. 17, 2021 at Belmont, where she finished seventh of eight. Vazquez conditioned the daughter of Paynter for Just In Time Racing. She ran 11 times and had one win on her record.
“After considering all testimony presented and the information and evidence submitted to the board of stewards by investigators of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, the board of stewards determine that owner/trainer Juan C. Vazquez was grossly negligent, cruel, and abusive in the shipping of the horse Shining Colors from Belmont Park to Parx Racing,” read the ruling.
Vazquez was also fined $5,000, which is due July 17. His suspension is set to begin July 18. The suspension is scheduled to last for the remainder of his Pennsylvania license. Racing officials will often choose the expiration date of a license as the finish of the suspension so that in future the person is required to apply as a new licensee. Some officials have more legal latitude in denying a new license application than in revoking a current one.
Earlier this year, Vazquez was handed a month-long suspension for two levamisole positives in fall 2021 at Parx, one of which resulted in the disqualification of Hollywood Talent from the Grade 3 Turf Monster Stakes. According to his record on Equibase, he has not yet served that suspension.
In November 2021, Vazquez trainee Ekhtibaar shipped in to run at Belmont Park and was discovered dead in the van at Gate 6. According to the New York State Gaming Commission's database, the cause of death remains unknown. After numerous inquiries to the commission, the Paulick Report was informed in March of this year that the investigation was ongoing.
“Because this horse was shipped to Belmont Park on 11/17/21 from another racing jurisdiction and due to the need for multi-jurisdiction collaboration in this case, we expect this investigation to take some time,” said NYSGC spokesman Brad Maione via email March 3.
Vazquez has a lengthy violation history, with 125 records relating to violations in the database ThoroughbredRulings.com dating back to 2006, although it is important to note that some violations generate multiple records in this database if stewards issue subsequent rulings rescinding or modifying previous ones. Track management at Delaware Park and Laurel Park banned Vazquez from those properties in 2015.
The post Juan Vazquez Sees Training License Suspended Until 2025; Stewards Call Him ‘Cruel And Abusive’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
